


It's Hard to Pull Yourself Together

by SieberSounds



Series: But the Story Never Ends After an Ending [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7177325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SieberSounds/pseuds/SieberSounds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A response to nicole_writes' 'that's the worst part about endings' in which Ladybug and Chat Noir have to live without each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Hard to Pull Yourself Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nicole_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicole_writes/gifts).
  * Inspired by [that's the worst part about endings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7065571) by [nicole_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicole_writes/pseuds/nicole_writes). 



> Don't get me wrong- I love realistic melancholy endings. But this one stuck with me because of the preexisting relationship between Adrien and Marinette. This is based on nicole_writes' 'that's the worst part about endings'. An after story, if you will.

Adrian threw his buzzing phone at the wall and buried himself in his covers like a human burrito. It was Nino calling for the thirtieth time this week, but Adrien had yet to answer him even once. In his days as Chat Noir he had missed plenty of calls from Nino, so it wasn't unusual to do so, but had always called him back.

It had been two weeks since Adrien's world was whipped upside-down. His father was formally in prison and, although he was secretly hoping for her to reach out and make some kind of sign for him, he hadn't heard so much as even a whisper from Ladybug. So Adrien just laid in bed feeling sorry for himself- he lost the girl, and he couldn't save his only remaining blood-family. He had more than enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life and a good education, but Adrien felt worthless. He knew that he was in a depression, but he didn't want to get out of it. He deserved it, and sometimes feeling darkness is better than feeling nothing at all.

Marinette also wasn't taking the transition well. She had avoided Adrien's place for the last two weeks- seeing him would remind her of his father and losing two of her four best friends: Chat Noir and Tikki. Instead, she and Alya went to London together as soon as Alya got back from her honeymoon. Marinette knew Adrien wouldn't be okay on his own, but Nino promised to check up on him every day and, just this once, Marinette needed to be selfish.

"So girl, why are you running away from your man?" Alya looked up from her phone and raised her eyebrow. She and Marionette were at a cafe a few blocks away from Big Ben.

"I'm not running away," Marionette sighed, "I just, I don't know, I can't really-"

"-Bring yourself to face Adrien after you helped lock up his father?" Alya sighed and put her phone down. "Look, I get it, you feel guilty about it. No one can blame you for that. But you need him right now Marinette. You just lost Chat Noir; your partner, companion, and friend who shared your biggest secret since we were fifteen. I'm not saying you need to tell Adrien your secret identity, but you should at least let him comfort you. Both of you will benefit from that. He is your other best friend after all."

Marinette gave her friend a weak smile. She still wasn't used to Alya knowing that she was Ladybug, but now that Tikki was gone it was nice to have someone else on the inside. If anything, Alya knowing that she was Ladybug is what helped to keep her sane the last two weeks.

"I'll think about it. Thank you, Alya."

"No problem girl."

\---

A few days later Marinette pulled out her key and let herself into Adrien's apartment. At first, she thought no one was home: no lights were on and the garbage smelled like it had been sitting in the kitchen for weeks. 

"Adrien?" She walked from room to room calling for him, stopping at his bedroom door. As close as they were, he was adamant that she never set foot in his bedroom. Even when she stayed over it was always in a guest bedroom. Marinette timidly knocked on his door.

"Adrien? Are you in there?" She asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. She didn't know if she wanted him to be on the other side of the door or not.

The answer she received was the overwhelming sound of silence. Pressing her ear to the door she noticed two things: the overwhelming stench of rotting food, and soft cries. Her heart broke as she retreated a few steps back from the stench. She had seen Adrien as a lot of things; Strong, handsome, charismatic, overwhelmed, disappointed, melancholy, depressed, frustrated- but never broken. Adrien wasn't supposed to break. He and Chat Noir were the strong ones in her life, and Marinette had already lost one of them.

"What should I do?" She whispered. It wasn't supposed to be a question for herself, but Marinette hadn't gotten used to not having Tikki there to answer her questions yet, especially when she was alone. She wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to the void Tikki left.

Hesitantly, Marinette reached out for the door handle. If she didn't open the door now, she probably never would. Adrien was the only friend of hers still in Paris and if she didn't have him, she probably would never come back. She between Adrien, Tikki, and Chat Noir she had memories on every rooftop and in every alleyway of this city and it was too painful to be reminded that she was the only one left.

After a moment of silence, Marinette used the last amount of courage she had left in her. She opened Adrien's door.

She was immediately flooded with the stench of rotten food. Glancing around she saw a small army's worth of molding Camembert in the corner. Adrien had some weird fetish for the cheese (even though she had never actually seen him eat it) but he had certainly never let it go bad before. At least that explained the rotten smell. Taking a few more steps in, she saw an Adrien-sized lump wrapped in blankets on the bed and a cracked phone lying on the ground a few feet away, just below a dent in the wall.

She stood there for a few moments, unsure where to look. She had never seen this version of Adrien, a man she loved in so many different ways, like this. She thought about what Tikki would do in this situation and looked around. Seeing that the windows were shut tight she walked over and whipped open the shades, exposing bright sunlight to the dreary bedroom. 

Adrien's figure shot straight up.  
"Plagg??" Marinette heard the human-burrito exclaim. She had heard that name before, but couldn't quite remember where.

"No silly," Marinette giggled and walked over to the bed, "It's me, Marinette."

Marinette watched as the burrito slowly, almost shyly, began to unwrap itself. Adrien slowly came into view as his layers peeled off. First his blond hair, then his green eyes, followed by his model nose, soft lips, and his father's chin. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot and his hair looked like it hadn't been washed in a week.

"I'm guessing you're not talking this transition so well, huh?" Marinette smiled sadly.

Adrien stared at his hand a few moments before answering. "It's not just losing my father that's hard." He mumbled. 

"What was that?" Marinette laughed, her voice like bells to Adrien's ears. "Speak up, silly."

Adrien cleared his throat and revealed a weak smile. 

"I've been missing you, hard."

A comment like that would usually end with Marinette looking away, bright pink and playing with her hair. This time, however, she just lowered her eyes and put her arm around Adrien, pulling him close. It's not as though they had physical boundaries, but it was always Adrien who initiated the rare contact between them. Marinette put her head on Adrien's less-than-fluffy head and sighed as he began to cry. As the time passed, she began to cry too. The man she loved was hurt in more ways than she thought he was, and she wished that she had been there for him instead of running away.

They fell asleep like that, together, on his bed. Adrien half swaddled in sweat-stained blankets using Marinette's arm as a pillow and her hand tangled in his hair. A strange thing happened to both of them. For the first time in two weeks, they slept well, both dreaming of their alternate identities. They had dreamed of themselves and each other many times since their parting, but for the first time in a long time, the dreams were bittersweet instead of heartbreaking.

**Author's Note:**

> I can straight up say that I haven't proofread this- so I apologize for any plot holes/inaccuracies. I'll edit this in the morning. I had intended for this to be a one-shot but there's so much I want to happen that rushing it would ruin the reality of it.


End file.
